Making Hand-Me-Downs Last

I’m not sentimental about much, but hand-me-downs have a weird way of tugging at my heartstrings. We invest in well-made clothing for the boys because it’s fun to see them transition through the same outfits. It’s also nice to not have to go shopping every five minutes. I get weepy, though, when it’s actually time to pass something on from one kid to the next.

Time just goes too fast!

I know, I know, I sound like SUCH a mom.

People always ask how I manage to have any hand-me-downs at all, since boys tend to be rough on their clothes. The answer is two-fold: I buy quality stuff, and I take care of it with our sponsor, OxiCleanTM Versatile Stain Remover.

When I was a kid, I had severe insomnia so my grandma and I would often stay up watching infomercials late at night. The first time we saw OxiCleanTM Versatile Stain Remover, we were mesmerized. I marveled as Billy Mays blasted away grass stains, contemplating my own soccer shorts. Grandma ooohed and aaaahed over the eradication of red wine. She ordered some and together we gave it a whirl. This was shortly after laundry duty became my duty, so I was about as entranced as any teenager could possibly be. The stuff worked. It worked well. We were HOOKED! Grandma stocked her cabinets with OxiCleanTM Versatile Stain Remover and started giving it out to friends and neighbors, raving about the stuff to anyone who happened through our door.

I’m pretty sure everyone received it in their stockings that Christmas.

Fast forward 15 years and I’m still using it on everything from white couch cushions to multi-colored baby blankets. I actually partnered with OxiCleanTM Versatile Stain Remover on a series of videos last year, and I continue to share them with fellow moms who ask how to deal with stuff like set-in splotches and breast milk stains.

The response from most new parents is, “Wow, that stuff really works?”

Um, yeah.

I think it’s just one of those “seeing is believing” situations, plus the fact that our generation simply didn’t grow up soaking clothing or really even pre-washing, so the process feels a little foreign at first.

It’s so easy, and the directions are on the back of the carton for reference. Just add a scoop of OxiCleanTM Versatile Stain Remover to a gallon of water and soak your item for six hours. Then launder as usual.

Voila! We’ve now started using OxiCleanTM Versatile Stain Remover in our pre-wash cycle to help stave off stains before they even begin to set. I still do the soaking thing every once in awhile to refresh stuff. This shirt, for example, is two years old and was part of a matching outfit set I got the boys for one of their very first photo shoots together. It went from Some Boy to Sidekick, and is about to be passed on from Sidekick to Minion. Many parents would think it’s unsalvageable after countless playdates and jelly-sandwich smears left the front blotchy and faded, but I gave it a little soak and it’s as good as new.

So we can all stop crying over stains and spilled milk and growing older…

…and move on to things that really matter. Like cherishing transition after transition.

There are over 101 ways to use OxiCleanTM Versatile Stain Remover to get tough stains out, delivering value through versatility and incredible benefits vs. detergent alone. Has OxiCleanTM Versatile Stain Remover helped save any of your family’s cherished items? Submit your own stain stories on the Dear OxiCleanTM site!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by OxiCleanTM through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about their Versatile Stain Remover, all opinions are my own.

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Chelsea is a marketing consultant and writer with an inability to sit still and a weird persistence in the kitchen.

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